Credicorp Ltd. (NYSE:BAP) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Operator: Our next question will come from Geoffrey Elliott with Autonomous. You may now go ahead.

Geoffrey Elliott: Good morning. So the cost of risk has been 2.1% in the first half and you’re guiding to 2.1% to 2.5% for the full year. So that seems to capture, particularly at the 2.5% end of the range, quite a big step-up in provisions in the second half. I’m just trying to understand what sort of scenario it would take to get that big step up and get you to the high end of the range and how cautious you feel like you’re being now with that 2.1% to 2.5?

Cesar Rios: Yes. What I can mention is remember that we haven’t finished digesting all the impact that we’ve had in the first semester in our [indiscernible] level of provision. So that’s incorporated in the projection of the second semester, all those loans that are default, but not fully provisioned as by the end of the first semester. And it included what I just mentioned in the forecast of the impact that El Nino would have under current information in terms of the portfolio looking forward. So that’s why we are — have increased the guidance in the cost of risk expected for the year as a whole.

Geoffrey Elliott: Okay. So if [indiscernible] ends up being more severe, then there’s some further risk that it could go even higher. Is that fair?

Cesar Rios: Yes. That’s a fair statement, yes.

Operator: Our next question will come from Tito Labarta with Goldman Sachs. You may now go ahead.

Tito Labarta: Good morning. Thank you taking my questions. I have two questions. One is on your insurance results continue to deliver good results there. Just to understand how do you think about the sustainability of that going forward so that we saw a bit of a decline this quarter? Should that normalize? Or can it remain above historical levels for some time? Any color you can give on that would be helpful. And my second question, just — if you can remind us the sensitivity of your margin to a lower rate environment. Your margin has been doing well so far. But do you think — how much pressure could there be as rates go down. And you also show there the risk-adjusted margin, which has been relatively stable — do you think that can continue to be stable as we’ve seen recently?

Gianfranco Ferrari: Tito, I’ll ask Cesar Rivera to answer that — the first question.

Cesar Rivera: Hello, Tito, thank you. Well, maybe it’s important to explain or to comment something about the port results in the insurance business for the first two quarters. Maybe one of the relation is the higher investment results we obtained in our — because the reinvestment rates we obtained in our investment portfolio and because of the good performance of our investment portfolio in general. The second reason of this higher results is the higher profits we have obtained in the disability and survivorship insurance. This is the insurance that is related of the affiliates to the AFP, the IPPS sorry. Because in the last bidding contest, we obtained an important person for these contracts and with an interesting increase in the rates.

So we have obtained an interest increase in premiums without the COVID claims that we expected some part of claim for this year. So this has generated a high profit for this business. And the surface relation is related with the higher profits that we have obtained in the Group Life and Medical life business. Due to the repricing we made in the previous years, considering that results we have obtained during the COVID pandemic. So considering that the following the market trends and the competitive situation in the market. We expect some reductions in their collective group life business in the next months. And we will obtain good results for this year, but we expect to have a sustainable ROI around the low 20s for the next and the following years.

Gianfranco Ferrari: Yes. And Cesar could you answer the second question?

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